The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached

Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.”
–Acts 2:14

Every pastor remembers his first sermon. I remember mine. I was fifteen years old, a sophomore in high school. Our church had a ministry to underprivileged children, and the leader of that ministry invited me to preach to their group on a Sunday afternoon. He knew I had just devoted my life to becoming a pastor. I don’t know if he thought this experience would be an encouragement or a dose of reality!

My sermon topic was Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. While I was stumbling through 1 Kings 18, the leader of the ministry was walking up and down the aisles slapping the palm of his hand with a baseball bat, trying to put the fear of God in those kids who couldn’t have cared less about what I was saying. Unlike on Mount Carmel, the fire of God did not fall on our gathering that afternoon. We were all relieved when the sermon was over.

In Acts 2, we find another man’s first sermon. In fact, it was the first sermon ever preached in the newly birthed church, and it had far different results than mine.

As we saw last week, Acts 2 describes the birthday of the church. We learned that a supernatural church, one that turns the world upside down for Jesus, is Spirit-empowered. On the day of Pentecost, about ten days after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, His disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and they began speaking in languages they didn’t know. A crowd gathered in the temple, and Jews from across the Roman Empire heard the gospel in their own languages.

All of this was a prelude to the apostle Peter’s first sermon. Isn’t it interesting that God chose Peter for this role? Peter wasn’t qualified. His foot was in his mouth more than it was on the ground. He had denied Jesus three times. Yet God chose Peter. Never think that God cannot use you because of a mistake in your past. If you seek God’s forgiveness, He can use you in a powerful way just as He used Peter. It was this imperfect, unqualified disciple who delivered what I believe is the greatest sermon ever preached. Through his sermon, we see that a supernatural church is not only Spirit empowered but also Christ centered.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.